Postcard DE-12024144

☝️ William the Silent or William the Taciturn (born on 24 April 1533 in Dillenburg Castle, shown above). He is more commonly known in the Netherlands 🇳🇱 as William of Orange (Dutch: Willem van Oranje). He was the leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs that set off the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648.

Born into the House of Nassau, he became Prince of Orange in 1544 and is thereby the founder of the Orange-Nassau branch and the ancestor of the monarchy of the Netherlands 🇳🇱. In the Netherlands, he is also known as Father of the Fatherland (Latin: Pater Patriae; Dutch: Vader des Vaderlands).